Optimizing battery delivery and replacement

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025037066-A1
Application number	US-202318361742-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 28, 2023
Priority date	Jul 28, 2023
Publication date	Jan 30, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

The system obtains SOH of a first component, where the SOH indicates a difference between a current state of the first component and a state of a rated new component. The system obtains historical use of the first component. Based on the SOH and the historical use, the system determines a future SOH of the first component. The system obtains an indication of a requested SOH of the first component. Based on the indication of the requested SOH and the future SOH of the first component, the system determines a first time indicating when the first component will need to be replaced. The system determines a second time indicating when the second component is available to replace the first component, where the second time occurs before the first time. The system requests a delivery of the second component when the second time is substantially close to the first time.

First claim

I/We claim:

1 . At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by at least one data processor of a system, cause the system to:
obtain state of health (SOH) associated with a first battery operating a vehicle including earthmoving equipment,
wherein the SOH indicates capability of the first battery to retain charge compared to a rated value of the first battery;
obtain historical use associated with the first battery; based on the SOH and the historical use associated with the first battery, determine a future SOH associated with the first battery; obtain an indication of a requested SOH associated with the vehicle; based on the indication of the requested SOH and the future SOH associated with the first battery, determine a first time indicating when the vehicle will need a second battery; determine a second time indicating when the second battery is available to replace the first battery,
wherein the second time occurs before the first time; and
request a delivery of the second battery occurring when the second time is substantially close to the first time.

2 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:
categorize the SOH associated with the first battery into multiple categories including a first category and a second category,
wherein the first battery can be initially categorized in the first category and subsequently in the second category, and
wherein the first battery cannot be initially categorized in the second category and subsequently in the first category;
obtain the indication of the requested SOH associated with the vehicle,
wherein the requested SOH indicates the second category; and
determine the second time indicating when the second battery is available to replace the first battery by:
obtaining an SOH associated with the second battery operating a second vehicle,
wherein the SOH associated with the second battery operating the second vehicle indicates the first category;
determining a third time indicating when the second battery will be categorized in the second category; obtaining a delivery speed from a location of the second battery to a location configured to accommodate the second battery replacing the first battery; and based on the third time and the delivery speed, determining the second time indicating when the second battery is available to replace the first battery.

3 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:
determine the future SOH associated with the first component by creating a first digital twin of the first component including simulating degradation of the SOH associated with the first component based on the SOH and the historical use associated with the first component; and create a second digital twin of multiple deliveries associated with multiple components by:
obtaining multiple delivery schedules associated with multiple suppliers of the multiple components;
obtaining multiple forecasted demands associated with the multiple components; and
simulating multiple deliveries associated with the multiple components based on the multiple forecasted demands and the multiple delivery schedules.

4 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions to determine the second time indicating when the second battery is available to replace the first battery comprise instructions to:
obtain a location associated with the second battery; obtain a location configured to accommodate the second battery replacing the first battery; determine a distance between the location associated with the second battery and the location configured to accommodate the second battery replacing the first battery; obtain a delivery speed associated with the second battery; and based on the distance between the location associated with the second battery and the location configured to accommodate the second battery replacing the first battery and the delivery speed, determine the second time indicating when the second battery is available to replace the first battery.

5 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:
based on the indication of the requested SOH and the future SOH associated with the first battery, determine the first time indicating when the vehicle will need the second battery and an uncertainty time window,
wherein the uncertainty time window is configured to adjust the first time to an earlier time; and
request a delivery of the second battery when the second time matches the earlier time.

6 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:
obtain multiple times associated with multiple used batteries,
wherein a time among the multiple times indicates when a used battery among the multiple used batteries needs to be replaced;
obtain multiple delivery times associated with multiple replacement batteries,
wherein a delivery time among the multiple delivery times indicates when a replacement battery among the multiple replacement batteries can be delivered to a location where a replacement of the used battery with the replacement battery can occur;
based on the multiple times and the multiple delivery times, create a delivery schedule to the location where the replacement of the used battery with the replacement battery can occur; and request a delivery of the multiple replacement batteries by providing the delivery schedule.

7 . The at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , comprising instructions to:
obtain the delivery of the second battery at a location configured to accommodate a replacement of the first battery by the second battery; determine whether the delivery of the second battery occurred within a predetermined time window before the first battery needed to be replaced; and upon determining that the delivery of the second battery did not occur within the predetermined time window, provide feedback indicating that the delivery of the second battery was not satisfactory.

8 . A method comprising:
obtaining state of health (SOH) associated with a first component
wherein the SOH indicates a difference between a current state of the first component and a state of a rated new component;
obtaining historical use associated with the first component; based on the SOH and the historical use associated with the first component,
determining a future SOH associated with the first component;
obtaining an indication of a requested SOH associated with the first component; based on the indication of the requested SOH and the future SOH associated with the first component, determining a first time indicating when the first component will need to be replaced; determining a second time indicating when a second component is available to replace the first component,
wherein the second time occurs before the first time; and
requesting a delivery of the second component when the second time is substantially close to the first time.

9 . The method of claim 8 , comprising:
categorizing the SOH associated with the first component into multiple categories including a first category and a second category,
wherein the first component can be initially categorized in the first category and subsequently in the second category, and
wherein the first component cannot be initially categorized in the second category and subsequently in the first category;
obtaining the indication of the requested SOH associated with the first component,
wherein t

Assignees

• Caterpillar Inc

Inventors

• Ha Christopher
• Ramaswamy Sridhar
• Khalil Sadia
• Green Christopher
• Fielding Damon
• Feetham Sara
• Tuckmantel Philippe
• Jones Daryl
• Huerta Diana
• Rodriguez Mark
• Almgren Glen

Classifications

• G06Q10/20

  Administration of product repair or maintenance · CPC title

• G06Q10/087

  Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders · CPC title

• G06Q10/083

  Shipping · CPC title

• G06Q10/06315

  Needs-based resource requirements planning or analysis · CPC title

• B60L53/80

  Exchanging energy storage elements, e.g. removable batteries · CPC title